Immigration News

*Effective October 14, 2026*

On October 14, 2026, the Department of Homeland Security (ICE) and the Department of Justice (EOIR) finalized a rule that streamlines the process for assessing civil monetary penalties against certain noncitizens. The rule finalizes an interim final rule issued in June 2025 and is intended to make it easier and faster for the government to impose penalties authorized by Congress for three specific violations of the Immigration and Nationality Act.

Who Is Affected?

The streamlined procedures apply to three categories of individuals:

1. **Unlawful entry or attempted entry** — People apprehended while entering or trying to enter the United States at an improper place or time.

2. **Failure to comply with a voluntary departure order** — People who were granted voluntary departure by an Immigration Judge but did not leave the United States within the required time.

3. **Willful failure to depart after a final removal order** — People who remain in the United States after receiving a final order of removal and willfully fail or refuse to leave (or take steps to obstruct their removal).

Penalty Amounts

The rule does not create new penalties. It only changes the procedures used to impose existing ones. Current inflation-adjusted amounts are:

- **Unlawful entry**: $100–$500 per entry or attempted entry (maximum of $500).

- **Failure to comply with voluntary departure**: $1,992–$9,970 (set by the Immigration Judge or Board of Immigration Appeals). If no amount was specified in the order, the default is $3,000.

- **Willful failure to depart after a removal order**: Up to **$998 per day** for each day of noncompliance.

Key Procedural Changes

Under the new process:

- A DHS officer can issue a written decision and order imposing the penalty directly.

- The individual generally has **15 business days** to file an appeal.

- Appeals are reviewed internally by a supervisory ICE officer on the written record (there is no automatic right to an in-person interview or appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeals).

- ICE may accept a late appeal if the person can document that mail delivery delays were beyond their control.

The Departments have stated that these changes are meant to encourage compliance with removal and voluntary departure orders and to deter unlawful entries. DHS has also indicated that it will generally cancel most failure-to-depart fines for eligible non-criminal individuals who self-deport using the CBP Home app.

 What This Means for You

If you or a family member has a final removal order, a voluntary departure order, or has been apprehended at the border, these penalties may now be assessed more quickly and with fewer procedural steps than before. Accumulating daily penalties for failure to depart can become substantial over time.

Anyone who receives a notice of a civil penalty should review it carefully and seek legal advice promptly, as appeal deadlines are short. There may also be options to resolve the underlying immigration situation or, in some cases, to have certain fines canceled through self-departure programs.

*This update is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Immigration law is complex and highly fact specific. If you have questions about how this rule may affect your case, please contact our office.*

A federal judge in California has blocked the Trump administration from collecting its $100,000 charge on certain new H-1B petitions, including the White House’s September 2026 extension of that charge through September 2027. The order is the second nationwide decision this year to stop the fee. For now, employers can file under the ordinary H-1B fee schedule, generally a few thousand dollars, not six figures.

What the court ordered

On September 30, 2026, U.S. District Judge Haywood S. Gilliam Jr. of the Northern District of California vacated the agency policies used to implement the fee and barred U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and the State Department from enforcing them. The agencies cannot revive those policies until they complete notice-and-comment rulemaking under the Administrative Procedure Act and the analyses required by the Regulatory Flexibility Act. The case is Global Nurse Force v. Trump, No. 4:25-cv-08454 (N.D. Cal.).

The order covers both the original September 19, 2025, proclamation, Proclamation 10973, and its September 18, 2026, extension, Proclamation 11069, which would have kept the payment in place until September 21, 2027. Judge Gilliam held that the implementing memos and guidance functioned as legislative rules, and that the agencies had skipped the public comment process the APA requires. He also found the plaintiffs likely to succeed on a claim that the policies were arbitrary and capricious, writing that the agencies had failed to consider any alternatives or the reliance interests of regulated parties. The court denied class certification and denied the government’s motion to dismiss.

Who brought the case

The suit was the first filed against the fee, on October 3, 2025. Plaintiffs seeking the injunction included Global Nurse Force, a nurse-staffing company, along with employers, schools, a healthcare practice, and related organizations. A broader coalition of labor unions, healthcare employers, faculty groups, and religious organizations has challenged the policy in the same case.

After the ruling, plaintiffs’ counsel Jesse M. Bless, of Bless Litigation LLC and the IMMpact Litigation coalition, said: “The court held that the agencies cannot do that, and it made clear that the order reaches the September 2026 extension as well. Two federal courts have now vacated these policies. Employers should know that, as of today, no agency policy lawfully requires the payment.” The Justice Department has not announced whether it will appeal.

How the fee worked

Proclamation 10973 required a $100,000 payment on certain new H-1B petitions for workers outside the United States, with a narrow national-interest exception. As implemented, the charge attached to consular processing and admission, not to every H-1B filing. The September 2026 extension said employers had paid the fee on only about 700 petitions in the first year, a figure the White House cited as evidence that the charge had sharply limited new hiring from abroad.

The California order does not finally decide whether the President exceeded his authority in issuing the proclamations. It stops the agencies from carrying the fee out through memos, FAQs, and related guidance unless they follow required rulemaking. The proclamations have not been erased, but the policies used to collect the payment have been vacated and enjoined.

The other lawsuits

The fee was already inactive under a separate judgment. On June 8, 2026, U.S. District Judge Leo T. Sorokin in Boston vacated the policy in a case brought by 20 states led by California, State of California v. Mullin, No. 1:25-cv-13829 (D. Mass.). He held that the executive branch had exceeded its authority by imposing a charge that functioned as an unauthorized tax, and that the implementing actions also violated the APA. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit later denied the government’s request to pause that judgment. The government is appealing and argues that immigration law gives the executive branch broad authority to set visa terms, including to protect domestic wages.

A third challenge, brought by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Association of American Universities, is before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. The district court in that case had previously upheld the fee, so the circuits are not aligned.

A separate proposed fee

Separately, the Department of Homeland Security has proposed a fee of about $103,265 on cap-subject H-1B petitions through ordinary rulemaking. That proposal is not the proclamation fee, is not in effect, and would face different legal questions if finalized. It would cover a broader set of filings than the entry-based charge set by executive action.

What employers should do now

Employers do not need to pay the proclamation fee on new petitions while these injunctions remain in place. Appeals, a later merit ruling, or a finalized rule could change that. Other proclamation-related screening, including wage and labor-market review, should not be treated as automatically gone. Employers that already paid the $100,000 charge may have refund questions, but no government refund procedure has been confirmed.

Petitions should be prepared on the current fee schedule, with litigation risk noted in internal budgets rather than treated as a settled end to the policy. We will update this alert if the government appeals the California order or if USCIS issues new filing guidance.

The U.S. Department of State has continued to widen its “online presence review” of nonimmigrant visa applicants. Consular officers may review publicly available social media and other online information as part of visa screening.

Latest expansion: I, TN, and TD visas

On September 18, 2026, the Department announced that, effective October 1, 2026, this review now also covers:

• I visas for foreign media representatives
• TN visas for USMCA professionals
• TD visas for dependents of TN professionals

Applicants in these categories are instructed to set the privacy settings on all social media profiles to “public” or “open” so consular officers can review them. This change is most relevant to journalists applying for I visas and to TN and TD applicants who must obtain a visa at a U.S. consulate, including Mexican nationals. Canadian citizens who apply for TN or TD status at a port of entry generally do not go through consular visa processing.

Categories already subject to review

The October expansion builds on earlier directives:

• June 18, 2025: F, M, and J student and exchange visitor visas, including dependents
• December 15, 2025: H-1B applicants and H-4 dependents
• March 30, 2026:A-3, C-3 (domestic workers), G-5, H-3 and H-4 dependents of H-3, K-1, K-2, K-3, Q, R-1, R-2, S, T, and U

Applicants in all of these categories have likewise been instructed to make social media accounts public or open.

The March expansion reached a much broader group of applicants, including fiancé(e)s and spouses of U.S. citizens and their children (K visas), religious workers and their dependents (R visas), and applicants for humanitarian visas such as the U visa for crime victims and the T visa for victims of trafficking.

What this means for applicants

If you are applying in a covered category, plan ahead:

•  List every social media handle used in the past five years on the DS-160, as the form requires.
• Set profiles to public or open before the visa interview, and leave them that way until a decision is made.
• Review what is visible. Posts, comments, and accounts should be consistent with the purpose of travel and the information in the application.
• Do not delete accounts to avoid review. Omitting required handles can be treated as a misrepresentation.

B visitor visas are not on the current list, nor are several common employment categories, including L, E, O, and P. Absence from the list does not mean those applications are free of online review. The Department has said it uses available information in all visa adjudications, and additional categories could be added later.

This update is general information, not legal advice. Screening practices can vary by consulate and may change. Contact our office if you have an upcoming visa appointment and want help preparing.

On July 27, 2026, the Department of Homeland Security posted public notice of an interim final rule (“IFR”) to be published on July 28, 2026. Under the IFR, effective immediately, asylum offices will have authority to refer pending asylum cases to the immigration court without an interview if certain conditions apply. The rule empowers asylum officers to make this determination based on such factors as:

• Applicants missing the one-year filing deadline;
• Being subject to a statutory bar;
• Not meriting asylum as a discretionary matter;
• If the claim otherwise lacks merit in officers’ discretion, opening the door for widespread dismissals at the Asylum Offices.

Notably, the rule authorizes officers to refer cases without an interview based on discretion before determining whether an asylum seeker is eligible for asylum, which is a vast departure from current and past asylum practice.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) finalized a new rule that scraps the decades-old "Duration of Status" (D/S) policy and replaces it with a fixed admission period capped at a maximum of four years. Announced by the Trump administration on July 16, 2026, the policy shifts oversight of international students from universities to federal immigration authorities.

The rule will formally take effect 60 days after its official publication in the Federal Register. 

Key Details of the New DHS Policy

• Four-Year Stay Cap: International students on F-1 visas and exchange visitors on J-1 visas will be admitted for the length of their academic program or four years, whichever is shorter. 
• Mandatory USCIS Extensions: Students who need more than four years to finish their degrees (such as Ph.D. candidates or those changing majors) must formally apply for an extension of stay with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Extensions require filing fees, biometric screening, and federal approval. 
• Reduced Grace Period: The post-graduation grace period allowed for F-1 visa holders to prepare for departure or transition to optional practical training (OPT) is slashed from 60 days to 30 days. 
• Academic Restrictions: Undergraduates are prohibited from transferring schools or changing academic programs within their first year of study. Graduate students are heavily restricted from switching programs entirely. 
• Limits on Subsequent Degrees: Students who complete a program are only permitted to enroll in a new program at a higher educational level (e.g., advancing from a Bachelor's to a Master's), explicitly banning lateral or downward educational changes while on an F-1 visa. 
• Accrual of Unlawful Presence: Anyone who stays past their fixed I-94 expiration date without an approved or pending extension will immediately accrue unlawful presence, which can trigger automatic 3-year or 10-year reentry bars to the U.S. [
• Impact on Media Visas: The rule also affects foreign journalists on I visas, capping their initial fixed terms of admission at 240 days. 

Purpose and Backlash

The DHS news release outlines that the policy intends to prevent visa abuse, enhance national security, and enable stricter government monitoring. Conversely, higher education groups and immigration advocates warn that shifting administrative power away from university Designated School Officials (DSOs) to USCIS will trigger massive processing delays and discourage international enrollment

The new DHS policy establishes distinct transition rules that automatically shield current visa holders from immediate disruption, while imposing strict new parameters on incoming Fall 2026 students. 

Current Visa Holders vs. New Fall 2026 Students

• Current Visa Holders (In the U.S. before Sept 15, 2026): If you are already in the U.S. under the "Duration of Status" (D/S) framework, you will automatically transition to the new system on the effective date. Your authorized stay is automatically extended for the remainder of your current academic program, capped at a maximum of four additional years from September 15, 2026. However, you will lose this automatic transition protection if you leave the United States and attempt to re-enter after the policy takes effect. 
• New Fall 2026 Students (Entering on/after Sept 15, 2026): New students will not receive a D/S designation on their I-94 arrival records. Instead, federal border agents will issue a fixed expiration date matching the program end date on the Form I-20 or DS-2019, up to a strict maximum cap of four years. If your degree naturally takes longer (like a Ph.D. or a 5-year program), you are restricted from day one and must plan for a future federal extension.

USCIS Extension Application Costs & Delays

If a student outgrows their 4-year limit or needs an extension for post-graduation Optional Practical Training (OPT), they must petition U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) directly. 

• Application Fees: Filing Form I-539 (Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status) carries an estimated base government fee of $420 to $470. 
• Biometrics Fee: Applicants may face an additional mandatory biometric screening fee (typically $30–$85) for fingerprinting and vetting background checks. 
• Processing Timelines: The rule shifts the workload from university offices to a heavily backlogged federal agency. Legal experts estimate that USCIS extensions will take an average of 3.5 months to process. Fortunately, standard immigration policy dictates that students can legally remain in the U.S. and continue studying while their extension application is actively pending.

Fiscal Year 2027 H-1B Lottery ​ The initial registration period for the fiscal year 2027 H-1B lottery will start on March 4, 2026, at noon and remain open until noon on March 19, 2026. ​ The 2027 lottery has changed from the previous H-1B lotteries as it introduces the weighted selection process. ​

Registration Process and Fee ​ If an employer wants to apply for an H-1B visa for a foreign worker, there are a few steps to follow:

1. Employers and their attorneys need to create accounts on myUSCIS.gov to participate in this process. ​
2. The employer must register electronically and pay a $215 fee for each person being registered. ​ This fee is nonrefundable and must be paid online through the pay.gov portal. ​
3. The fee is separate from any other fees that might need to be paid later if the registration is selected in the H-1B lottery. ​
4. If working with an attorney, the employer will need to coordinate electronically with the attorney. ​

Information Required for Registration ​ • Employer’s name, employer identification number (FEIN), and address. ​ • Employer’s representative contact details. ​ • Employer’s attorney information. ​ • Foreign worker’s full name, date of birth, country of birth, country of citizenship, gender, and passport number. ​ • Whether the foreign worker has a master’s degree from a U.S. higher education institution. ​ • Foreign worker’s wage level information (wage level I, II, III, or IV). ​ Speak to your immigration attorney to determine the appropriate wage level for each registrant. ​

Additional Considerations • USCIS may deny or revoke H-1B visas if the registration contains false information or if the registration fee is not properly paid. ​ • If selected, USCIS now permits a start date on or after October 1, as long as it is within 6 months of the petition filing. ​

Selection Process

Beneficiary-Centric Selection Process ​ Each foreign worker will only have one chance in the lottery, even if multiple employers submit registrations on their behalf. ​ USCIS will ensure that each registrant is only entered into the lottery once based on their passport information or travel document information. ​

Weighted Selection Process ​ USCIS has finalized a new selection process for the fiscal year 2027 H-1B cap lottery. ​ Under the new rules, the lottery would no longer be completely random. ​ Instead, registrations for jobs with higher wage levels will have a better chance of being selected than those with lower wage levels. ​ The government groups salaries for each job and location into four wage levels, from lowest to highest. ​ Wage level one is typically tied to entry-level positions, while wage level four is for senior-level positions. ​ As a result, the salary offered for a position could affect the odds of being selected. ​

Note: This new weighted selection process will likely be challenged in court, which could delay or stop its implementation. ​

This information is intended for general information purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. ​ You should not act or rely on this information without seeking the advice of a competent, licensed immigration attorney. ​ 

Foreign nationals who file to renew their EAD on or after Oct. 30, 2025, will no longer receive an automatic extension of their EAD. There are limited exceptions to this rule, including extensions provided by law or through a Federal Register notice for TPS-related employment documentation. 

USCIS recommends foreign nationals seek a timely renewal of their EAD by properly filing a renewal application up to 180 days before their EAD expires. The longer a foreign national wait to file an EAD renewal application, the more likely it is that they may experience a temporary lapse in their employment authorization or documentation.

The interim final rule does not affect EADs automatically extended before Oct. 30, 2025.

The policy memorandum from U.S. ​ Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) outlines a restored approach to evaluating "Good Moral Character" (GMC) for aliens applying for naturalization. ​ It emphasizes a holistic, comprehensive assessment of an applicant's behavior, societal contributions, and adherence to community norms, rather than solely focusing on the absence of disqualifying acts. ​It is effective as of August 15, 2025.

Key Points:

1. Purpose: GMC evaluation is critical for determining eligibility for naturalization, reflecting both legal transformation and moral alignment with U.S. societal standards. ​
2. Legal Framework: GMC is assessed under the "preponderance of evidence" standard, requiring applicants to demonstrate they meet the requirements more likely than not. ​ Permanent and conditional bars exist for certain offenses, but positive attributes are also considered. ​
3. Holistic Approach: USCIS officers must evaluate both positive contributions (e.g., community involvement, family responsibilities, education, employment, tax compliance) and disqualifying behaviors (e.g., crimes, DUIs, reckless actions). ​
4. Rehabilitation: Evidence of genuine reform, such as compliance with court orders, repayment of debts, and community testimony, can support a finding of GMC. ​
5. Totality of Circumstances: Officers are directed to consider the applicant's full history, balancing positive and negative factors, to determine their worthiness for U.S. citizenship. ​

This approach aims to ensure that naturalization reflects not just legal eligibility but also moral and ethical alignment with U.S. community standards. 

USCIS is considering a foreign national's antisemitic activity on social media and the physical harassment of Jewish individuals as grounds for denying immigration benefit requests. This will immediately affect foreign nationals applying for lawful permanent resident status, foreign students and foreign nationals affiliated with educational institutions linked to antisemitic activity.

Consistent with President Trump’s executive orders on Combatting Anti-Semitism, Additional Measures to Combat Anti-Semitism and Protecting the United States from Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats, The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) stated that it is enforcing all relevant immigration laws to the maximum degree, to protect the homeland from extremists and terrorist aliens, including those who support antisemitic terrorism, violent antisemitic ideologies and antisemitic terrorist organizations such as Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, or Ansar Allah aka: “the Houthis.”

“There is no room in the United States for the rest of the world’s terrorist sympathizers, and we are under no obligation to admit them or let them stay here,” said DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin. “Sec. Noem has made it clear that anyone who thinks they can come to America and hide behind the First Amendment to advocate for anti-Semitic violence and terrorism – think again. You are not welcome here.”

Under this guidance, USCIS considers social media content that indicates an alien endorsing, espousing, promoting, or supporting antisemitic terrorism, antisemitic terrorist organizations, or other antisemitic activity as a negative factor in any USCIS discretionary analysis when adjudicating immigration benefit requests.